Ascenseur
by booksickle
Summary: When something terrible happens to Bella, who will be there to comfort her?


I stumbled out of my office, dumbstruck

I stumbled out of my office, dumbstruck. I heard cries behind me as Mike got up of Jessica and ran after me.

"Bella, sweetie, it's not what it looks like! I swear! She came on to me!" he proclaimed, buttoning up his shirt and coming to stand in front of me. I just pushed past him, still too shocked to speak. He got the point and stayed as I ran down the long hallway of my work.

I tripped a few times, blinded by my tears, and, after I finally fell over an expensive-looking rug, took off my 5-inch black stiletto heels, a prerequisite for my job, and carried them in my hand as I staggered to the elevator.

I stepped into the lavish elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. Unfortunately for me, I worked at a prestigious magazine company's headquarters in New York City, which meant mandatory high heels, dress, and 5-minute elevator ride to and from the office. Oh, the joy that is skyscrapers.

I collapsed to the floor as what I just saw sank into my memory. I had walked in on my boyfriend of two years, Michael Newton, and my co-worker, Jessica, in a very… compromising position. I had suspected something between them for a while, but it had never amounted to anything… until now.

I wasn't sure how long I was in the elevator, but my office was on the 72nd floor and I knew that it shouldn't be slowing down yet. Sure enough, as I looked up at the dial, we were only at the 50th floor. Why was the elevator slowing down?

I realized, to my horror that someone else was getting on the elevator. What a sight I must be, I thought sullenly to myself. Sprawled in a halfway sort of fetal position on the marble floor, heels in hand, my hair spread around me and my eyes running with my mascara. At this point, though, I didn't care. Things couldn't get much worse.

The doors dinged open and I saw a pair of shiny black shoes step in. I kept my eyes down in the vain hope that whoever it was would just leave me alone. He pressed the button for the lobby again, even though it was already lit **(a/n: I do this too, even if it is already lit. It's just a habit.)** Then, he spotted me, crumpled in the back corner.

He set down his briefcase and walked over to me, squatting down to my level.

"Miss? Are you okay?" he asked in the most lovely, velvety smooth voice.

"I'm fine," I squeaked out amidst my dissipating sobs, still not meeting his eyes.

"Are you sure?" He reached out and took my chin in his warm, elegant hands, turning my face towards his. "Because you sure don't _look_ fine."

I gasped as I looked at his face. His bronze hair was in stylish disarray, as if he had ran his hands through it recently, and his eyes, a brilliant green, captured my own and gave me the feeling as if he was seeing right through me to my soul.

"Miss? What's wrong?" he asked. It was odd. He seemed like he actually cared what was wrong with me. I guess I just wasn't used to it, what with Mike's recent lack of… tact, caring, loyalty. So many words fit, I couldn't choose just one.

I couldn't help it- as I looked into his caring, piercing eyes, I broke into sobs again, shuddering as he pulled me against his chest. It wasn't that I had lost Mike- we had grown apart in the last few months when, I now know, he started seeing Jessica. It wasn't that we had broken up that had me so shaken up, it was more the fact that he had cheated on me with one of my colleagues. The betrayal stung more than anything else did.

"Did someone hurt you? Miss, are you hurt?"

I was silent as I pondered his questions. There was such a difference between the two.

"Bella," I finally choked out. "Call me Bella."

"Bella, are you hurt?" he asked me tenderly, cradling me against his chest. I shook my head, as I replied shakily "N-n-no."

"What's wrong, Bella?" he asked me.

Taking a big, shuddering breath, I explained the whole story to the beautiful stranger. How I had met Mike at work on my first day. How he had asked me out that night and I had accepted. How our relationship progressed for two years. How Jessica had been hired a few months ago. How I had introduced the two at a Christmas party only weeks ago. How they had shared an odd look before breaking eye contact and walking away. And finally, how I had walked in on them, just today, in my office. In hindsight, I ought to have seen it a lot sooner. All the signs were there, I just didn't notice them

As I finished my story, I saw him looking at me with an odd look on his face.

"What's wrong, Mr.…"

"Cullen. Edward Cullen."

"Well, Edward Cullen, what's wrong?" I asked playfully. Getting the story off my chest had made me feel much better, and I was more than ready to return the favor.

"Oh, I just noticed that we were almost at the lobby," he said.

"Oh," I said, resting my head against his chest briefly. He smelled really good. It was weird to say, but it was true. I then pulled myself into an upright position as he stood up, offering me his hand. I took it and felt an odd surge of… electricity, for lack of better word, run through my body. Edward must have felt it too, because he froze and looked at me before picking up his briefcase.

"Are you sure you're okay, Bella? You looked pretty shaken up. Do you want to go get some coffee or…" he asked hesitantly.

"Are you asking me out?" I asked incredulously.

"Um… I'm sorry. It was too forward of me and you're on the rebound and-" I cut him off.

"No, no, Edward. I'd love to! Really. If it's not too forward of_ me…_"

"No, not at all!" he said exuberantly.

We both stood there a second, before laughing at our silliness as the elevator doors opened on a busy lobby. He took my hand tentatively and I walked out of the building with him, forgetting all about Mike, Jessica, everything but the handsome god before me.

**A/N: I was reading another story, when the mental image of Bella in a black dress, holding her heels in her hand, sprawled out on the elevator floor sobbing sprung into my head. So, I wrote this. Feedback would be appreciated (and not the song)… review please? Oh, and "Ascenseur" means "Elevator" in French. I wasn't feeling very inspired title-wise.**


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